Sunnis in Iraq fear familiar foe

BAGHDAD - For much of the past two years, about 1,000 Sunni families have lived peacefully alongside a Shiite majority in a northern Baghdad neighborhood.

BAGHDAD - For much of the past two years, about 1,000 Sunni families have lived peacefully alongside a Shiite majority in a northern Baghdad neighborhood.

But that changed this spring, Sunnis and local officials say. More and more, the Hurriya neighborhood is being dominated by Shiite troublemakers who had been largely quiet when U.S. troops were the dominant force in Iraq.

Now, Sunni men talk about a "death calendar." In the past six weeks, they say, a Sunni man has been executed in the neighborhood about every seventh day, in what they interpret as an intimidation campaign by Shiite extremists.

"Here, they don't use silencer pistols to kill you, because they are not afraid," said Sabah Alwan, whose nephew Adil Rasheed Batta was shot nine times in the head and chest on May 17. "There is no one to face them."

The violence and the efforts that began last week to quell it have raised questions about what lies ahead in Iraq, which is facing the departure of U.S. forces at a time when the government remains hobbled by political infighting, largely along sectarian lines.

In recent months, Iraq's security forces have focused primarily on combating Sunni-dominated extremist groups, such as al-Qaida in Iraq, which they blame for headline-grabbing attacks. The security forces report to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite.

But Baghdad officials say that Shiite militia groups are regrouping in a way that also poses a threat.

"These were well-planned incidents and were implemented in a professional way," said Khammas al-Garawi, head of Hurriya's local security committee.

Sunni residents say envelopes containing bullets have been left at their doors since March. Warnings such as "Dirty Sunni, leave the area" or "Your blood is wanted" have been scrawled on homes and walls. Windows have been shot out. And Sunni children are being kidnapped for ransom, said neighborhood officials and family members.

"We have no choice but to leave this area," said Hasan Albatta, adding that hundreds of Sunni families are preparing to move. "We wish we could stay, but they don't let us."